Son 'too fat' to fly home

A French family who came to the United States for medical treatment for their son is now stranded in Chicago because the airline that took them there now say their son is too fat to fly back.

Kevin Chenais, 22, spent a year and a half at the Mayo Clinic for treatment of a hormone disorder which led him to weigh 225kg.

His mother was near tears as she described the family's problems to the local CBS affiliate.

"We blame British Airways because now they just leave us, and they brought us here," Christina Chenais said.

"If they could bring him here with that problem in economy, there was a way to take him back by economy but just get him back home for his medical treatments to continue."

The family spent a week in an airport hotel trying to resolve the matter and, running out of money, has decided their only option is to take a train to New York and get back to France on the Queen Mary cruise ship.